



Book 



'Jo 



coj^y Z, 



THE CASE 



OF 



JANE MARIE, 



EXHIBITING 



THE CRUELTY AND BARBAROUS COJVDUCT 



OS" 



JAMES ROSS, 

TO A DEFENCELESS WOMAN. 



Written and fiublished by the object of his cruelty and vengea^i^ 
AND ADDRESSED TO THE 

PUBLIC OF PHILADELPHIA 

AND THE WHOLE OF ; " 

PENNSTLVANm 

Sep, 1808. 



THE CASE 



JANE MARIE, 

eSHIBITING THE CRUELTY AND BARBAROUS 
CONDUCT OF 

JAM .S ROSS. 



TO THE PUBLIC 
LETTER I. 

I HAVE seen in the public newspapers my name intrjCK 
riuced in two or three instances ; and a publication in particu- 
lar, in wi.ich the name of my husband is employed to serv.- the 
purposes of Mr. James Ross, of Pittsburg. 1 subjoin that 
publication to this, (see \ppendix A.) and, in reply to the state- 
ment made in that publication, in the name of John Marie and 
Felix Brunoi — on the part of James Ross, esq. 

i, Jane Marie, now of the city of Philadelphia, to the allega- 
tions made and published in the papers exhibited to me, as 
copies of afiidavits of my husband John Marie, and I'elix 
Brunot, do say and declare as follows: Tha' I hold in my posses- 
sion a legal instrument, duly eniercd on record, in the county of 
Allegany, with the seal of the recorder's office thereunto 
affixed, and of which the following is a copy, the original i^ 
deposited in the hands of the printer. 

(COPY.) 

Know all men by these presents, that Tohn Marie, of the town of 
Pitf-btirgh, in the count, nf Alleg-aiiy and state of Pennsylvania, in con- 
sideration that my wife Jane Marie, will witiiout force or coercion, 
sit;n a deed of conveyance to George Stevenson of the town and county 
af rcsaid; conveying to lilm, tlie said George, all that lot of ground, 
whicli tlie said John agreed to ponvev to the said George, situate, lying" 
ar.d l)e;iig amongst the out lots in the town of Pittsburgh, and adjoining 
lots of Matthew Ernest and Andrew Watson, doth covenant and agree 
with the said Jane, that he, the s;ud John, shall not, at any time here- 
after, grant, bargain or sell, lease or convey, lo any person whatever, 
for any co^isideration whatever, tliat lot or jiiece of ground, with all and 
singidar the appurtenances thereunto belonging, on wliich the said 
John and jane now live; situate, lyiiigand being marked in the general 
^au of the town of Piltsbu''gh, No. 6, outiot, or any part thereof, with- 



out the full consent and approbation of her, the said Jane, first had and 
procured by him, the said John. 

In lesiimiiiiy where-f I luve hereunto set my hand and aflixed my 
seal Mis 12t:h day of February, in the year of our I.ord, one tnousand 
seven hundred and ninety seven. ^ 

JOHN MARIE. 

Witness present. 

Sarah M'Dowell, 
Alexander M'Dowell. 

I, Jane Marie, do solemnly swear, in the presence of Alexander and 
Sarah M'Dowell, and John Maiie, to never put my hand to paptr, con- 
cerning this place (Grant's Hill) on which we now live, so help me 
God. 

Allegany County^ ss. 
(seal.) 
Be it remembered, that the within named John Marie, personally ap- 
peared before me, one of the justices, assij^ned to keep the peace, in 
and for the county aforesaid ; and acknowledged the within instrument 
of writing, to be his act and deed, and that it might be recorded as such. 
"—Given under my hand and seal, this 13th day of February, 1T97. 

ALEXANDER M'DOWELL. 



Allegany County, ss. 

Recorded in the office for recording of deeds, in and for the said 
county, and in book F, page 448. Given under my hand and seal of 
office, at Pittsburgh, the 22d of April, 1797. 

SAML. JONES, Recorder. 

And further, I, the said Jane Marie, do declare, that no ap- 
plication was ever made to me for the sigving of any deed, nor 
any intimation given of a sale, or intended sale, of my property, 
in dower, at Grant's Hill, until three days after Mr. Marie de- 
parted ftom Hittsburgh ; that on the third day of January, 
1803, Mr. Ross accompanied my husband out of Pittsburgh, 
and lodged with him at the inn of Mr. Peoples, twenty miles 
on this side of Pittsburgh, that night ; that the fiisl information 
of any such purposed, or intended, or surreptitious sale, was 
communicated to me by the lady of Mr. Steele Semple? at 
Pittsburgh, which information I told her was not entitled to 
credit, nor did I believe it possible. And my reiisons for this 
belief, besides the imperious obligation contained in the paper 
of which the above is a copy of record ; the follov/ii.g power of 
attorney was deposited by my husband, Mr. John Marie, in the 
hands of Mr. John Johnston, now post-master at Pittsburgh ; 
and what further rendered it altogether impoobible for me to 
believe or credit this information was, that this pov.'er of attor- 
ney (the original is deposited also in tlie hands of the printer) 
is m the hand lurithig of the aforesaid James Ross, esquire, and 
subscribedby Mr.Johntson and'the said James Ross as witnesses; 
and the name is in the hand Avritinrr of mv husband, ■^vith his seal 



tuereunto affixed ; aiid even the inclorseineiit is in the writing 
of ""'i; Ross ; and what is woitiiy of rt^niiuk, t ou;r'i my iuis- 
biUiCi jcil Pittsburgh with Mr. Ross on t!i ■ lidrci of January, 
this power of atto- ney, written in the hand of Mr. Ross, is d.-.ied 
the iourteenth of the same month. 

Know all men, by these presents, That I, Jo'in Marie, of Pittsl)^'^!!, 
tlo liereby make, constitute, and appoint my I vi:ig wife, Jane Marie, to 
be my lawful attorney for me, in my lame, and f">r my use lo collec ver 
ceive, and reco\er all monies due to me from any person or persons; in 
the western parts of Peinisyiyaniu, and receipts and discliarges for tiie 
samf to g-ive, a'so to dispose of and to make sales of any part of my 
persjnal p/operty, at such prices, and to such persons, as slse may 
thii;;.- pr.jer, a:;d possession thereof to deliver, liereby ratifyint^ what- 
soevt-r my saiil attorney may or can do in the premises b;. '.irLue 
Iiereof. 

In testimony wliereof, I have hereunto set my hand and sta! , this 4th 
day of Januar\-, 1803. 

JOHN r.IARIE. 
Scaled and delivered in the presence of 
John Johnston, 
James Ross. 

And the said Jane Marie doth further declare, althou?:h this 
reported sale was spoken of, . nd many cruel and barbarous 
means were resorted to to deprive me and my child of our 
hor.se and home, and althoui^h we were iina ly in a maimer 
cruei and shocking;, which shall be laid before the public in due 
time, barbarously forced and beaten out of our house ; no evi- 
dence or appearance ofevidenceof a legal cluuacteror form, was. 
offered, or gven, to show by what authority, or under Avhat 
legal pretence, Mr. Ross claimed to deprive me of my house, 
and furniture and home ; until on the second day of August, 
IbOo, having advertised my household goods f; r sale, Messrs. 
John Johnston and Steele Semple, called on me, and stated to 
ine, that there was a power of .Ulorney given by any husband 
to ih.ose two gentlemen, jointly vvitli John Lucas and Thomas 
Collins, superceding the power to nte, and desiring me to stop 
the sale — but no power of attorney v/as then sliewn to me, nor 
dio ever see any paper answering to such an alledged 
character, for more than a month .d'terwanls, when 1 cailed at 
the recorder's oflice in company with Mr. Ayres, attointy at 
law, and there saw a paper, of which the lullcv, ing is a copy 
translatid : 



(TRANSLATION.) 

We. Peter Bailholemev/ Portal, jnd.ue, executing the office of jmi - 
sident of the tribunal of con^nicrce of Kordtaiix, ccrlily to u!i whoiri it 
ma ' cnii-cri',, tiia» 'I'.c signature placed at the bottom of ri<e utlK:r!b:de, 
is tliat of tl,e c!C';;;:n, 1^1. Comyn, sworn and icceived iuterpreier to the 
said tiibunal, and Uiai ftiili oug-i;t t < be g-ivi;n .':•. reto. both in a!.uout<if 
judicature — In witness whereof wc huvc caused the seal of the tribur.:^. 



io baafflxeil, opToosUe to these presents. — Done at Bordeaux, in tiie 
council chamber, twenty third of Floreal, the year twelve 

(Sig-ned) PORTAL, 

Jacig-e, executing' the office of, &c, 



Translation nf c/poixer of attorneyinade by one, M- Comyn, s'ivorn iiiterpre- 
iei- to the irlbunul of o'limerce, for the district of Bo>-deav.x, ii tiw 
rfpiiblic of France, from French into English, (f which the contents arc 
asjohovcs. 

B'jforc' Josepli Guy anl liis collea,^ue undersi.^ned notaries in Bor- 
de;;ux, appeared John M'trie, being this d.iyi;i Bordeaux, lodged 'mi the 
iro ir of the Ciiartrons, No 145. at the house of citizen John Bernard, 
•who rcvnkinj^- by these ■^resents, all powers given by him heretofore, to 
citizen Donnely Jane Mari.- Ii's wife, th .t t!ie powers no longer have 
any effect in lljture, has made and constituted f n- his general and spe- 
cial atforn'ies, the citizens Steel .Sumole, Thomas CaUins, John Jonns- 
t.on, and John Lucas, er-qs. all in labitants of Pittsburgh, in the state of 
Pennsylvania, to whom he gives p nver, for him, and in his name, to 
rule, manage, govern, and ad;nu)ister all hs property, and the aJairs 
which he may have, to receive for tiiis purpose, all sums that .ivn due 
t> him, and tliai may be due to liim hereafter, on wliatever title and 
AVJiatever cause it may I)e, to give ac p.iittances and valid discharges for 
tlie receipt of said sums, to revoke themselves, if the above revocation 
should not be sujiicijnt — all powers given bv him, to his said wife, to 
withdi-aw out of he. hands, all titles, notes and papers, which she may 
iiavr- beljiyi-ing to him, to hear all accounts, discuss them, and deter- 
mme th-:^ balance of them, to receive or pay them, and give, 'ir take 
acquittance^, to end aid determine ai' aifairs — and particularly em- 
powers them t^ transmit to, and pat in possession citizen Jame . Ross, 
esq. inhabitant of tiie same p'ace, of six acres and a half of ground, 
with the houses appurtenances, an I dependences, No 6, situated in the 
out-lot of the town of Pittsburgh, which said John Mare, sold lo the 
said J imes Ross ; to put in execution in every respect, s:iid bill of gale, 
air! i>i general to do for the ittterest of the said Jo!m Marie, in orde^- to 
oftVci tiie premises, all tliat i>is sn.id attornies shall think proper, and if 
it j;ho.iid be necessary for the execution of the above powers, to sue, 
uttack and defend in ail tribunals competent, ali snits, differences and 
contest iti;)ns, whatsoever, against all persons, to obtain all judgements, 
put tliem in execution by bei;iures, oijpositions and otl»er pursuits to 
liesist fi-(»m them, grant deliveries, ]jleud, oppose, appeal, fix resi- 
dences, constitute and revoke lawyei-s, treat, transact, compound, 
receive all accounts, substitute the present ])o wers entirely or in part, 
promisi ig to agree to eve^y thing iiis said attorneys shall do, obliging, 
ji,c. — Made and passed at Boi-doauX; in the office of said Guy one of 
f;aid notaries, the nineteenth of Floreal, the eleventh year of the 
Frencli republic, and after tliese presents being read to the person 
wii') enipovvers, he has sigrud with tiie saul iioua-ies, tlie original 
w!:-..-!' ■•: n.'.i's in posses,;''')v .if '- id Gu\\ — 'Bevisl red i:> Budeaux 
-tlie tvventietli F'oreal, eleventh year — Received one franc and ten. 
ccnliuic.-. tiiX. 

(Signed) C-.)NSTAND. 

BAHBAiUit. 
GUY. 



We, Martial Lonstaii Lainothe, first vice president of the tribu- 
•nal of first instance, in the district of Bordeaux, de] aytrsient oi' 
Gironde, certify to all those whom it may roncen., thut the uln)vt sig--- 
natures are those of citizens Guy and Barbaiic, public notaries of this 
citv, and tliat faith ought to he given to them, as v ell in as out of jr.dg;- 

jneV.t. Given in Bordeaux, the twentieth of Florea!, the elever.tli vea? 

of the republic. 

(Signed) LONSTAN LAMOTHE, 



I. M. Comyn, sworn interpreter to the tribunal of commerce of Bor- 
fleaux, certify the present translation t be sincere, true and conforma- 
ble to the original. — Bordeaux, the 22d Floreal, eleventh year, or r2th 
May, 1803, old style. 

M. COMYN". 



I, William Lee, commercial agent of the United States of America, 
for the port and district of Bordeaux, do certify, That the signature 
above is that of citizen Portal, president (/jro fern.) of the tribunal of 
commerce for the city of Bourdeax, and that full faith and credit ought 
to be gven to his acts as such. 

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand ( l. s. ) and affix- 
ed my seal of office this sixteenth day of May , 1 803 

WILLIAM LEE. 
The words pro tern, being interlined 

JOHN MARIE-. 

Allegheny county, ss. 

I do :iereby certify, That the foregoing is a true copy of the record 
Itl my office. 

Given under my hand and seal of office, at Pittsburgh, the loth No- 
vember, A. D. 1803. 

SAML. JONES, Recorder. 

This paper I plainly saw must be a forgery — and took steps 
to ascertain the fact — for plainness sake, I leave out at this 
time the account of the oppression and cruelty I sufiered, to 
pur tie this paper, under pretence of which, I was torn by hired 
ruffians out of my house. I caused an examination to be 
made at Bordeaux, at the offices- of the notaries with whom h 
was alledsjed this power of attorney was put on record, and 
from thence T have received the following- certificates, duly at 
tested by Mr. Lee the American consul. 



TKANSLATION. 



I. tlie undersigned, Raymond Serapliim Follure. notary imperial, 
residmg ii-. Bordeaux, acquirer and holder of the papers and business 
of Mr. Joseph Guy, notary of this town, deceased the twenlj-.sixth of 



Frnctidor, in the year thirteen, or twelfth September, one thousand 
eiirh* liiindred and five, Df dare to al- t!iosp wliom it may concern, tha'c 
I iia' e not recorded on the sixteenth of Mav iast, )ior any other period, 
any -owcv of attorney in the name cf J jhn Marie, of Philadelphia,' 
wlir^icof I have convinced myself by an examination of the records of 
my office 

Bordeaux, the twenty-third December, ot\e thousand eignt huudred 
and seven. 

(Signed) FOLLURE. 

fScaledJ 

The above sig-nature, that R S. Folhire, notary public of this place; 
I, th" undersijined. commercial agent of the United States of America 
for the port a.iid district of Bordeaux, have hereunto put my liand and 
seal of office- 

Eordeaux, December 23d, 1807. 

WILLIAM LEE. 



I, the iindersic:»cd, Joli-. Paulin Sarbarie, notary at Bordeaux, cer- 
tify, to all those whom it may cimcern. that I liave not recorded any 
instrument whatever, since the first of January, elgteen hundred andl; 
six, to this day, executed by John Marie of Philadelphia. 

Whereof I have Ci>nvinced myself by an examination of tlie record.'^ 
of mv office 

B<"'u .1 ■••.!\,the 22d day of December, 1807. 

(Signed) BARBARIE 



In testimony that the above signature is that of Paulin Barbarie, 
notary purlic — I the cnidersigned. commercial agent of th< United 
States, for the port of Boideaux, have heieunto put my hand and sea[ 
of office 

Bordeau.'i,the 23d of December, 1807' 

Wm LEE. 

I wrote to my liusband describing the cruel tretitmcuts I 
had experienced, and implored his return tome — which lie did; 
upon my Inisb^uid's rtturn ironi i vance wiiicli was in July, 
1806, he remained in Philadelphia wit me about tenwcefes, 
when we a., reed liiat he should proceed to Pittsburg- in older 
to secure two bonds of 800 dollars eacii,one made '>ut foi ami in 
m> name, and tiie otner for and in the name of our dau.;^.,ter, 
Caroline Marie. Upon my representing to him the cruelty 
with which I had been treated, iie was indignant, and he 
decl.ired that he would sue Mr. Ross if it cost him all he iiad 
on earth : and on exhibiting to him a copy of the alledged 
power of attorney, he made the following- declaration on oath, 
and su;jscril)ed his name thereto, on the same paper on which 
the copy of the spurious power of attorney is written, on the 
same day that he set ofl'for Pi tsburgli. 

I. John Marie, doth solemnly swear, that I never gave the written 
power of attorney, or deputed those gentlemen within mentioned, to act 
for me m aiiv respect, or ever n.eai't to distress my wife and child m 
an} respect ; as witness my hand, this twentieth day of -epieniher, 1806. 

JOHN MARIE 



9 

These cruel transactions, are move fit for a court of justice 
-—and ; am not well enough qualified to iay tht:-n iDefni-j ihc 
public in a proper manner ; but as tiie courts and lawv.^rs, .jkI 
indeed ai- the people at and near Pittsburgh, are in terr.)r oi" 
James Ross ; and he has brous^ht these things fort . , I owe it to 
inysell,aiid to th"> pul)iic, to lay the whole transactions before 
tl:em — I believe every candid person will see in even this part 
of my case, that Mr. Ross has not acted towards a heipIcG;; 
".voman, as a man of honour — nor as any good man can simc- 
tion or justify under any pretence — but what is the scene ef 
chicanery here exposed compared with what remains to be 
told — Avhat will be said to a paper intended as a vindication of 
Mr. Koss, that his vindication alledge a d'vorcc to have aikei> 
place between me and my husband. The public should knov; 
that 1 was murried to Mr. Marie in this city, x8 years ago 
— and that the ground upon which Mr. Ross lays claim tf. nw 
house, is this divorce, whic'n his defence says, wasobt.ii'ed 
only 12 montlis ago. Delicacy will not permit metoutie: the. 
alledged ground of this divorce — if the ground was sucli as is 
a]Iedge!<^l, surelv after devoting from my seventeenth vtur full 
23 year., of my life to my husband ; it was too late, in I'sor for 
Mr. ;.-);,s to justify his seizure of my house in IS 3- xy. the 
mai!;an be did, upon an alledged infirmity of my husband, when 
the very paper phbliahed in the name of my unfortunate hus- 
band as a vindication of Mr. Ross, declares thai the money he 
vested was to support his family — whatfamiiv ? his wife and, 
daughter. JANE MARIK 

Philada. Sept. 20, 1808. ' ■ 



LETTER II. 

Had the laws afforded me that shelter against oppression— 
that refuge from wiong — tiiat redress for injuiy of the most 
savage and brutal nature, which had been done me by J;!n^e'.i 
Ross' — had the courts of justice even been tedious in enforcing 
that -usiice of which they have the name— could I have found 
lawyers to vindicate my wrongs, or assert my claims, or to de- 
mand redress for bodily violence done on the. person of a he:};-- 
less and defenceless wom.ui — an adch'ess in print from one of 
my sex might be perhaps indiscreet ; at least had I any othev 
tribunal before which I had a hope of justice, I should have re- 
luctantly made this appeal to the tribuiu'l of the pubiic— !;u^. 
my oppressor is a l'>wyer himself, he is a favorite of the courts, 
and the couiis :.cing composed of lawyers, how can a h.elrle^'- 
"'■voman liope for justice, 

R 



10 

i huve eiiiployed lawyers to proseciUe 'Mv. Koss for the pro- 
perty which he has torn from me and my cl.ild I have em- 
ployed lawyers to prosecute Mr. Ross for the cruel and barba- 
rous beating nvlhcii hf !i an personally inflicted on me and on my 
imfortunate child — the magistrate who dressed the wounds in- 
flicted on my face and body by the kands of Jaines Ross, de- 
clared he despairedof obtaining justiceforme,even forthe bodily 
violence done to my person by James Uoss — the mapistrate 
indeed summonsed him, bi:t what did James Ross care for the 
summons ot u magistrate, he who was and is superior to all ma- 
gistrates and courts in the neighbourhood, what is the summons 
or the process of a court of law to him — it is only to serve the 
purposes of such great men as James Ross, that'courts of law 
appear to be instituted — a helpless woman has no chance, not 
even a chance of redress, where such a nian as Janjes jss 
is the wronger. 

The very lav/yers vvith whom I had placed the affidavits of 
the outrages done against me — whom I had feed 'o prosecute 
James l'<!oss ; 1 ought perliai^s only to say that one, Mr. Henry 
Baldwin^ with wlronv I deposited the affidavits of the cruelty 
and bodily injury done to my person, tuat evidence I have not 
been able to obtain out of the nands of Mr. Baldwin. I state 
tbesf facts as my apology for appearing with my own name 
before a humane public. I have no other remedy left — I .'-ad 
a house and home — Mr. Ross is in possession of it, he lives in 
it, and looks down from the summit of Grant's Hill, every t: ee, 
and shrub, and avenue, every pebblr- of tr.e walks in which beav 
the rememberance of my personal industry — Grant's Hill, from, 
a desart, was converted into a paradise ; the taste of my hus- 
band, and the industry of my own hands, for 17 happy years, 
combined to convert the desert which we found as rude as na- 
ture, into that state of elegance, which is nov/ the habitation of 
James Koss. 

To me it was indeed for 17 years a paradise — in the hasty 
collection of authentic paper-L, which I published through the 
permission of Mr. Duane, in his paper, in ;hat pul)lication and 
the publication of Mr. Ross, to which it was a reply, it will be 
•seen how Mr. Koss came to possess himself of Grant's Hill, 
every tree, and shnib, and stone of which, if tliey had tofigues, 
would carry horror and remorse to his so'jI. — But the public 
are yet to learn how I was driven out of my only home, and 
tfin-oAvn helpless and forlorn upon the benevolence of strangers, 
and the commisseration of those who knew me in my youthful 
years. It is a cruel case for a woman like me, tenderly brought 
up in this city, rnarried in this city by bishop White, in Octo- 
ber 1779, now in the 4fith year of my age, to be thus ob- 
liged to address the public — but it is my fate-^and I must bear 
up .igavnst it with that resolution which the wi'ongs I have su? 



11 

■itered dei-nand — It is a woman, who on her fcice bears at this. 
■momen , the traces of the wounds inflicted on her by the hands 
of James Ross — wjio nowaddressts you. — I will now reiate how 
I was dispossessed oi'tliat liuleparadise, which my haiKls had 17 
year:> cultivated, and iVom wiiich James Ross looks down'upon 
iPittsburgh, with what feelings I leave all ciiristian people to 
suppose. 

Jn the reply which I niacle to Mr. Ross's vindication, pub- 
lished by :4,en- Wilkins of Pittsburgh ; I siu;\ved that my iuis- 
band had left me a power of attorziey on Ids departure for 
Prance, in January 1803 ; and I gave the copy of a piper 
which was afterwards shewn to me — that is after 1 had been by 
outrageous cruelty and violence torn out of iiiy house, the pa- 
per called a pov/er of attorney. 

My husband was a naiive of France, and as most people have 
adesire to see their native country, he gr(;wing old, being born 
in 1727-1728, took advantage of the peace in Europe in 1803, 
and went to France. Tor more than a year before his depar- 
ture I heard nothing of such an intention, though he had often 
before expressed the desire to see France before he died. lie 
Jeft Pittsburgh on the 3d of January 18Cf3, in company with 
Mr. Ross. No dispute, no anger, no difference on any matter 
-whatever, preceded his departure ; as he grew in years he was 
occasionally peevish, but my disposition was not to TiOtice it, 
nor indeed to reply or aggravate a pelulcnce that many good 
.people are not free from. 

I before stated that the ilrst I heard of any bargain be- 
tween Mr. Ross and my husband v/as from Mrs. Semple, and 
when I first saw the paper alledged to l)e the power of attorney. 

Mr. Ross, who was then a woi'thy member of the senate of 
vhe United States, returned to Pittsburgh, to attend the courts 
of law in the spring ; and I believe it was the end of Mai-ch or 
beginning of April he came to my house at Grant's Flill, and 
proceeded without ceremony fiist to look over all parts of the 
'place, and then told me that he had bought the house from my 
husband. 

Knowing that the laws protected me in my right, and that 
my husliand could not sell any real estate without my consent, 
1 treated it lightly at first ; but he assuming a stern air, though 
he failed to frighten me, 1 told him that he had nothing to do 
v;ith my property, nor should I part with it ; and as my hus- 
band had obtained my signature to the conveyance of other 
real estate which he sold with my consent to Mr. Stevenson, 
upon consideration of never parting or requiring me to pn-t 
with Grant's Hill, which my husband suid constantly he meant 
to reserve for his daughter, I felt perfectly secure, arsci spok-'. 
Tiitb the firmness of that confidence. 



% 



^ 






. A 



12 



Tvir. Ross then assumed a soothinj^ tone — he condescende^L 
cve'.j to co.mpiaisance — but this course was no niore successful 
■\vitii nK Uiun the otner, and lie departed menaciai^- me wiln the 
utinosv ven,;;cance of the law — 

I beiieveil was two or three days after that I received a letter 
from liim, of which the following is a copy — the oris^inal, in 
Mr. Ross's hand Avriting, 1 have placed it in the hands of the 
printer. '-' 

Pittsburgh, \ April, 1803. 
.'Madam, 

Ml-. Marie, your husbaud, by his deed dated the f )iirteentli of Jamiai-y 
histj sold and conveyed to me, in fee simple, the house wlu-n-e yoii tive, 
togciiier with the .ot onwliici' it is siluated, containing- upwards of six 
acres, with all the buildings and improvements thereon. By the -ame 
deed iie b und himself to give me quiet peaceable possession uf the 
pn-nises on this day, in as good ordei' as on the day of sale — to uellver 
the -ardening tools, to leave all tht grates in the house, and a yountj 
cow, for which ve agreed at the time uf sale 

When I visited you the other day, you expressed an uiv.-, iUingncss to 
comply with dii^ sale of yonr husband, and a riisposition to h-id p .sses- 
.sion of the property by fm-cc. I hope that on better advice ai!(i conside- 
i-ation you will see the manifest propriety of gi'. 'ng me po. session, i-e- 
leasi'gyourposaibilityofdowe.-, and of fully executing this co.:tracts;>far 
:is the execui ion of it depends upon you. Fortius purjjose, and to take 
possession of all for me, I send Mr Meason, the bearer hereof, woo will 
wail upon you,- and k' ovv yonr determination respecting this business. 

On my return I'rom Gieensburgh, I was greatly surprised?! hi^ding 
yonr setter of the 2od instant, statng my disiiosilion to receive a ripay- 
mentof my money, and a cancelling of my bargain witli Mr. Marie. 

I certainly never made, or agu-ed uj such a proposal — noi can I ever 
consent that any person concealing his name and agency in such an 
jiftair, show d ever have the controid over the property 1 havepurciiased. 
What use would there be in cancelhng the bargain, and returning the 
pro(.ierty to Mr. Marie ? He does not ask it, he does not wish it. 
Your own good sense must certainly be aware, that no benefi; can be inten- 
ded to you by tiiose who advise you in such insidious propositions, \\hich 
they are afraid to make themselves. There would be no mystery, if 
there weiv not hidden designs, vvhich would not bear examination. I 
ca not, for a moment thin , ot so inadmisbible a j^ropiisal. 

I: will afford me great pleasure to see the agreement fairly executed. 
1 amweil persuaded that your o.m interest is deeply at stak. in seeing 
it .-., eedily fulfilled ; and that your refusal will be attejidud \\\\\\ serious 
nnisjoi- tunes tu yourself — Those who advise you to refusal will not be 
the suilireis, but ;j)ey hope to profit by that which can never be reme- 
died s ould it happen to you. 

Be assured that, oii niy part, I v.ill readily do any tiling towards a 
peaceable adjustment, x<hich any counsel you inay tn^r.ge, shall say is 
justly or honorc.b y expected from me. 

I am Madam, 

YoiU'mo,st obedient servant, 

JAJIES ROSS. 
Mrs. yane Mark. 



13 

This letter speaks a vevy plain languag-e— the law, which 
securjd nie iBy right as u wife ivnd a female, was no stumbling,- 
block -o Mr. Ross--he even treated it with ridicule only as 
a W\Yc possibility ; so little ciitl it staixl in iiis wiiy that he sent 
his agent to take possession, though I had peremptorily 
resisted and refused to part with my right ; nay, an overture 
lo return him any money which my husband had taken, is 
treated widi as much surprize a, if I had proposed to rob iiini 
of so much 

An.. . ier feature in this letter is the menace r.eld out against 
any person who should dare to lend or give me the money, 
wi-.icii he supposes must be the case, and the angry threats 
display the character of this man in .a manner more forcible 
than 1 can find words to express. 

IN'r arte had sold iiis right he says— and Mr. Marie did 
r.ot wish to revoke the bargain ; but supposing it to be true, 
that Air. Mare did receive money; yet Mr Marie could not 
repeal t!ie law that secured my right, nor after the re- 
corded obligation that he had entered into, never to part 
■witii that plac.^, had he himself a right to sell even (as 
former share I consented to sell other property in con- 
sicieralicn of retaining Grant's Hill ; Mr. IVIarie had re- 
corded tiiis obligation i\\v' self ; so that Mr. Marie had no 
i'igiit to sell, and I was positively and irrcv 'ca!)ly bound to 
preserve the property of my daughter. 

Mr oss says, " there tjouUI be no mystery^ f there ivcrc not 
hidden desigiw^ rjh'ch would no! bear exainina'ion," The hu- 
aiiane public jiow see where the hidden desigris were, though 
more of thera j^et remain to be reveaicd--for in t'^e i.r t para- 
graph but o!;e oT his letter, he appears to have formcJ :.isde- 
bigiiS-'-for he telis me "your ir.tvjrj t is dc( [ir,- ;i.t stake ia see- 
" iiig it (his wishes sptedly fuln!;cd, v.\,'.. U.ji ycur refusal 
■"■ will be attended with serious vdijoi tuni!^ to i/jUi.utjT 

Ti c public will now see, how awfully ana woefully for mc, 
this . rediclion was veriMed but what interests had I at stake— 
my nusband was in France I wrote to him to return— but th.c 
accidents of life might deprive me of him— my dau.ahter our 
only child, and the little paradise oi' Grant's Hill, which was 
to me as another child, for I had, reared it from its wiidncss 
and infancy up, to be tiie admiration for elegance and beauii- 
and tasteful improveiuent, of all t:)c Mvsiern country, and oi 
travellers—this v/as the only stake leU me — deprived of that, 
I had nothing; and I could not have beUeved, had I even sus- 
pected, that the menaces of Mr. Ross, vvouid be carried into 
such cruel per;)eiratio;'., as I am to relate. 

1 f;arl cng.'.ge more of t ;eir time than the public may he 
willing t;j bestow at once un a idstory of so much inl .uitv — 
' shall take the liberty of giving in another letter, if poiioihle, 



14 

ii Tiarrative of the indecent, ihe obscene the barbarous out- 
rages, that were committed on me, in expelinp; me from my 
last stake— when the door was broken open with an axe — Avheil 
I Avas torn from my bed-chamber, by the hair of the head, 
neized by the le?:s by a viie ruffian, of the name of Giffin, 
who had been tv/ice in jai! for robbery, and dragged sense- 
less and naked, into the pubUc street, where I lay an 
object of horror to the passengers, who dared not, at the 
risk of life, to interfere or rescue me from the handt 
of savages — it is too horrible to reflect on. 

TANE MARIE, 
I»hi!ada. Sent. 20, 1808. 



LETTER III. 



1 beseech the indulgence of the public for appearing &c 
often before them, and engaging so mun.: of their attention; 
but my case in the deprivation of my dower, my case in being 
torn, by ruffians, out of my house iii noon day — niy case in 
appealing to the laws without any effect, but additional ruin — 
-.ny case, after living in peace, and after devoting 28 years of 
Tuy life to a husband, viay be the ca-e ofotjier ivomen, if the 
laws are so unavailing, that a county lawyer can keep a whole 
county in ierror, and trample upon tiie most sacred laws 
and obligations. 

In rny reply to the vindication of Mr Ross, by his bosom 
friend, John Wilkins, I shewed that my husband had bound 
himself never to require me to part with Grant's Hill, I gave 
a copy of the record, and I left the oriL-;inal in the hands 
of the printer ; sevei'ai persons of credit iiave called and seen 
and inspected that paper, and the letters in James Ross's 
band writing, and the notarial papers from Bordeaux. 

A man of honor, a man of the least spark of humanity, a 
generous, virtuous m n, would have scorned to interfere 
"between man and wife, even if they had quarreled, which my 
husband and I had not. A good man, regardful of his moral 
ehai'actei', would, when he saw the husband gone, and the 
t^'ife with her ciiild, left as it were a widow — a good man 
would have hesitated even with a strong legal right, before he 
%vould have disturbed a v/oman in her own house ; if the 
luisband had made a sale without the wife's knowledge, when 
he found it out (if he did not before know it) he would have 
spurned at the idea of turning a helpless woman out of her 
own doors, with her infant child, into the street — But Mr. 
lioss M-as above feelings or considerfitions of this nature--'- 



1> 

there A^'as no such place, as I had selecled £ov a d'weHing,- 
aboiit Piitsburgh, it had the advantage of contiguiiy and 
elcvhtiun, it commands the most.delighttui prospects, it over- 
looks the tovni oi" Pittsburgh, aud the incessant industry of 17 
years of my life, for I had no other pleasures but domestic 
eoiicerns, and the care of my garden and gvotinds— such .;t 
sit.uulion presented to Mr. Ross's view, objects superior to the 
vuigar ideas of humanity, resyiect for my sex, tenderness for 
Hiy Ciiild, or regard for the laws which were made to protect 
a wife aguhist the profligacy or depravity of a husband. 

Mr Ross's letter of the first of April, I pnbiislied in rr\\~ 
prccedmg address— -I now publish anolher ; the originai, in 
j>Ir. Ross's hand writing, is also in the hands of the printer., 

I^ittsburg/!, 20 Matj, 1803, 
Madam, 

In answer to your note of this moriiintj, I can oniy repeat wiiat I have 
heretofore stated to yoit ; tb.it no person will ofier to pay any money fov- 
you to me, witliout having a conveyance of the vitlc for iheir security. 
Whoever makes you such an offer, has a .secret design to jjet the pro- 
perty into his own hands, and to do both you and rue an injury. I liavt: 
never had the least dispo^ilion to permit so unwarrantable a' tliinu- to 
take place, even althoug-Ji, in a pecuniary point of vlc\v, it might be 
made advantaii^eous to m) self. 

Certainly I am far from intending any Injustice tov,ard=; vou, and if 
30U will autliorise any i-cusonable man to adjust tliis busiiiess for }ou 
with n;e. I am persuaded \our intereil will be ])romoted by carrying' the 
contract between Mr. Marie and m3seif into effect ; — any person whf> 
is really ynur friend will tell you, that the pursuit of a different course 
will not advance, but must, in the end, dcatroj jour real interesi- 
tuiil /jijfipi/icss. 

If those who promise to pay the n!oney mean to act fairly, v.hy con- 
ceal theu- names .'Let them come forward and state their expectations, 
then* reasons for inteifcreuoe. and the nature of their agency ; vou wili 
then sec tliat nog;)od is intended to you. 

I will readily confer v,ith any person you. may send to ma';e a faiu 
and projjer arrangement fov endir.g ail difiicultics, rod ! will i.>ay thft- 
money even before it is due, up.in liavingthe contract carried into "com* 
niete execution. 

lam Madam, 

Your h.unf.jle servaui:. 

JAMES ROSS. 

i»RS; MARIE. 

By this letter of Mr. Ross it appcars-.-for the pubiic wiii 
see., that all the evidence 1 give, is the evidence of my enemies, 
I assert nothing ti.at depends on evidence merely on my own 
Avord ; I give tiie records of courts and the hand \;riting of 
Mr. Ross, and the hand writing of my husband, as the ground 
oi all, una the proof of all tha: 1 have said— no une can say I 
\)ave forged Janus Ross's hand writing, for I give the origi- 



16 

iial — no one can say I forp;ef1 the powev of attorney s^iven me. 
by my hus'iand, for James iloss is the witness and, tnc und 
writini^- of tj,e power of attorsi y is his — so is the lettirr, vijcii 
I bep; ;iny ;i.ie who iias a doubt of it, sviij cali and see an i ex- 
atni:)':. — By this letter it appears acl^nowledged that I offered 
top;-.y Mr. Koss a sum of inoney e uial in amount to the .sum 
of money :e said he had paid my hu-band: — Mr. Ross then 
cou'd not have suffered any loss — and Mr Ross by taking 
back so much money, mi^vht have at least nave s^'me credit ou 
the score of humanity and respect for tiie ris^hts secured to 
married females by law — he might have escaped the re- 
pruaches of conscience, whicii must haunt him whde he 
lives. 

Mr. Ross never once deigns to consider 77iy iegal right—- 
though the laws have made provision for female dower — he 
never deigns to consider that he is seeking lo turn me out of 
iny house and home, and to deprive me of the property, irre- 
vocably secured to me and my child by a recorded deed — 
Mr Ross appears to consider himself above all law, and so it 
appears he is— he endeavours to discover whether there is not 
some person who ventures to be my friend to lend me money 
in private, to save me from want, but who does not openly 
avow himself; his anxiety is to discover who it is tiiat thus 
dares within the region over which he rules with despotism, 
whc- dares to aid and secure a friendless woman, deserted by 
her iatsband, and assailed by the tyrant of the district—he 
looks for that friend to sa'-iate his vengeance— and considers 
gen';;rosity when exercised towards a woman, as treason 
against the despot of Allegheny. 

I leave further reflections on this letter to the reader, for if 
I was to express ail tlit indignation it produces in me, I 
should trespass too much with my aiTlicted feelings on public 
attention — i therefore hasten to other particulars 

I had fixed !)y an irrevocitble oath my purpose of securing 
the place of Grant's Hill for my daughter's inheritance--aiid 
of course my reply to Mr. Ross's agent, Mr. 'leason, was 
according to that right which I possessed, and the resolution 
which 1 had taken. 

The mififortunes with which "Mr. Ross had menaced me 
very soon began to be manifest ; my reputation was now 
assailed ; the people of the neighbourhood graduady with- 
drew or became shy of me ; any one who appeared to be my 
frirnd v/as soon made sensible of the danger of being so ; anc} 
threats and menaces were thrown out which I confess ai last 
seriousH- alarmed me for my personal safety ; accordingly, 
I determined to sell off my household furniture, the prime 
cost of which was more thy n fifteen i;undred dollars, beside the 
additions of curtains, ciiairs and sofa furniture, and all those 



17 

iitttle things which domestic industry adds to the embellish - 
ment and conveniciiCe of house-kcepiiit^, without ai«,uiuling 
it as expence or value laid out —My purpose was to rent; my 
house and place, reserving to myself and chiid a single 
apcriment:, there to await the return of my husband iVorii 
Fnince. I accordingly advertised my house to let, and my 
furraiure for sale 

I was particularly determined upon tliia course by a cir- 
cumstance that had come to my knowledge, soon after tbv 
above letter and tnreatenings of Mr. Ross in May of that 
year I nad hired as a gardener, one John Brumley, v.ho l)cinj' 
a married man, and under an obligation to me for undertaking^!,- 
to pay a debt of SO dollars for him to *:r Henderson of Pitts* 
burgii, I thought I sb.ould lie more secure from the danger at 
least of personal violence from the ruffians that hang about 
the jails in the western cotmtry, who are alway."? rt;ady to do 
any vile office for influential characters about the courts. 

Brumley, though he had incurr.^d debt, was the son of a 
very respectable farmer, and retained some feelings of pride 
and generosity, among some failings ; his Avife had been in- 
yited from my house to the house of Mr. Ross, to drink tea, 
and as I understood, an offer of 200 dollars was held out to 
Brumley if he would undertake to put me out of the liouse and 
put Mr. Ross in possession— Mrs. Brumley, like a good wo- 
man, rejected the teuiptation— Brumley, for this refusal, was 
threatened with vengeance, and he preferred going ciw.iy in 
my debt for what I had undertaken to .'uy for him and otiiev 
money advanced him, to aiding in turning me and my child 
out of our own doors. 

This was what determined me to s^ll my furniture— a 
Frenchman of the name of Arnout or Arnold, was sent to me 
to take the house, and as 1 was informed, he was to havt: 20Q 
dollars for giving Mr. Koss possession, but Mr. Arnout divulg- 
ed the plot to captain Bebee at Pittsburgh, and to Mrs. .ove- 
less who lived there 

My furniture was advertised for sale for the 2d of August, 
1803 ; and -ome progress was mude in the sale ; on the next 
day, that is the 3d day of August, a day which is a dis- 
honour to civil society, a reproach to the state of ^ nn- 
sylvania, a scandal to the morals of the people, and a 
melavicholy evidence, that there are men above ail law, as 
well as above all feelings of humanity in this coumry of 
boasted freedom, as well as in the most barbarous tyrannies 
that we read of in books or newspapers. I shudde- while I. 
endeavor to giv; some account, consistent witl, decorum— ^ 
consistent with ilie decency of my sex— I tremb;eMV; lie I 
attempt to convev a feint idea of the cruelty — tlie biov/S' hv*- 

C 



18 

llicted on my person, the manner in whicAvnIvvas seized by 
the hair of the head, dragged by the legs dos n\ y own stairs, 
by a gang of hired ruffians, beaten with tcks and whips, 
and— blessed and merciful God, forgp^'e me while truth com- 
pels me to declare, that I was thrown in a state of utter 
inability, to move or extricate myself, without any other gar- 
ment than a shift and a single petticoat on my person, and 
even these were brutally torn, and such scandalous acts of bru- 
tal indelicacy as I cannot— as are too horrible for me to 
desci'ibe. 

It was on the third day of August 1803, that the sale of 
my furnil-ure was to proceed ; and I had all my linen and 
clothes in the wash ; a little after ten oclock, I was 
told that there was a gang of men coming to stop the sale ; 
and a man who had been twice in prison for robbery, and had 
been screened as a convenient man about the courts, was 
at the head of them, that there was one Brown one Simon 
Small, one Barkley, a man of the name of Love, and six or 
seven others of the like character, among them ; I determined 
to shut my doors, which I did ; they soon came, two of them 
iiist lifted the latch, demanded admission with horrid impreca- 
tions ; they forced open the door by violence and entered tu- 
mul*uously huzzaing ; I sent a person immediately to the 
elder Mr. Wilkins, I sent for Mr. Baldwin the lawyer ; they 
both came ; the former would not interfere ; the latter warned 
those ruffians not to touch any thing— ^Aei/ reji/ied thai they 
had tht orders of Mr. Ross ! I had retired up stairs to 
my own room ; there was a washing going on, and the 
people about me fled affrighted, as I was myself, though un- 
shaken in my purpose to maintain my right. They proceed- 
ed up stairs and hallooed out to me to deliver the keys ; I 
made no answer ; but being thin clad, the weather being 
warm, and being myself aiding in the washing, endeavored to 
get on some clotiies, but a blow of a wood axe soon shattered 
my chamber door ; and the ruffians, headed by this thief 
Giffin, s(jized me by the hair of the bead and dragged me to 
the stairs, with blows from others 1 was deprived of my 
senses, and as I understand and the bruised condition of my 
head verifies it, I was seized by the legs, and v.ith nxy head 
knocking against my own stairs, dragged ovit into the street, 
and thrown senselessly on the street — it was about eleven 
o'clock, and it was a scorching sun — under which I lay un- 
sheltered, and without any kind or benevolent being who had 
courage to oppose themselves to the vengeance of Jijmes 
Ross, by interfering to protect or to rescue me from the 
cruel and savage scoffing, the brutal and indecent outrages on 
my senseless body in open day ! 

This statement I know is such as many will scarce be- 



19 

iicve possible — many will not r.redit that such deeds could be 
perpetrated by the savage Indians on a helpless female ; but 
alas ! it is too true, and it does not rest on my assertion — and 
it was only to the interference of a wagggiiCr, who passin.t,^ by 
the place saw the cruel riot ; his name, may benevolence 
never desert him or his progency ; may the blessings that 
good actions communicate to the soul, not be his only up- 
ward — this waggoi;!er was named Henry Neyman or Nigii- 
man, for I cannot spell his name, and the afhdavit of the facts 
sworn to by him is in the possession of Mr Baldwin, nor have 
I been able to obtain tlut paper and others out of Mr. Bald- 
win's hands ; indeed if self preservation can justify siicli 
things, Mr. Baldwin is only protecting himself from the ven- 
geance and ruin whirh James i^oss migiit inflict on him, if he 
were to render me, even as my lawyer, an act of justice. 

But the substraice of llenrij A'ci/man'a- affidavit, is to be 
found in a letter from a gonileman of credit, which is 
placed in the hands of the printer, and of which I have 
requested the printer to make such an extract as he may 
judge fit for publication- 
Extract from the above letter. 

f' Ii< nrij .Yeyman says^ ivhen passing JMaric's /loiise, he saw 
Mrs. Marie layitig in the street in the broiling stm ; being asked 
(f she might not be lyi7ig drun/c, he shook his head, and said ah, 
710 no, she was senseless, andafelloiv treating her ill ; that he, 
Aeyma7i, ivas shocked at the vile conduct he saw, /lartzcularli/ 
towards a woman ; he interfered ; and the fellows abused him ; 
he made his way into the hoxtse, a7id there he heard several 
others, some of the most abandoned of mankind, glorying that 
they had pulled the bitch down and given her head a good 
thuin/iing against the stairs, and stretched her legs proper 
wide ; N'cyman says she had only her shift and bed gown on. 

" Air Osborn, a merchant of Pittsburgh, says he was pa.'.- 
sing by Marled place, the same pdace in which Ross now 
lives, on, the 3d Jliigust, 1803, and saw Mrs. Marie lying 
in the street, to appearance dead ; that the apparel she had, 
was so as to strike h!?n iivth shaine, and that he went him- 
,^elf and pulled her clothes ox'er her person, for which he 
was abused ; Mr. Osborn, on being a^ked if he thought her 
intoxicated, he replyed, O Jic sir, good God, I could not 
conceive such-'-I covered the injured woman, and o?dy entered 
info q. contest with the fellows from necessity." 

I believe it Avas about sxmset, that I felt the first return 
of sense, indeed it appeared to me, as if the sun were 
about to set for ever— and my afflicted soul in the first 
moyncnls of jr-vaktned agony, would Aullingly have se for 
ever. 



2Q 

Ukl Mr. Wilkins, who would not interfere in the morning, 
fiO'.v c^imt;, nHcl ctUer I had been torn thn- oar. of nv • iase, 
wanted to know wnere I meant to Iot;;jjc ' And no doub^, this 
was iuimunity, since he was Mr. Ross's bosom friend As soon 
as { was able to reply, I told him that I had no home, nor did 
I kjjow any place to lodge ; my clot lies as vvell as my furaiture 
were all scone ; they were lying part in fragments anci part 
■vvl.ote in the street. Old M • Wiikins was anxious to know 
if n ■ iile was in daOjjer ; and he went to capt Bebee's tavern, 
and asked them to take me tojods^e tliere — wliich they did — 
and here for three weeks I lay unable to go abroad, covered with 
bruises; I endeavoured to get out ot the tavern to a private 
lodging — but I have narrated enough, and the reader vvfih per- 
haps say too much for the credit of public morals and the laws 
«:»f Pennsylvania. I shall endeavour to close my narrative in 
one letter more — with an account of the brutal violence inflicted 
en me by the hands of Jaipes Ross himself. 

JANE MARIE. 



LETTER IV. 



1 have laid before the public a plain narrative of facts, not 
in,ere iuiegations of mine nor of any other person, but on such 
evidence as is not always to 'oe obti'.ined in cases of aggravated 
juid premeditated wrong — My misfortune is that I am a wo- 
man wiii'.out money, an<l lliat my oppressor is a lawyer of great 
wealth and inlhience in the state, vmd who no man dares openly 
resist in the neighbourhood he resides at — but my case, as I 
have siievvn it in the three letters that I have written, proves 
this strong enougn. 

In my last address, the cruelty and barbarity exercised on 
my person — tiie plunder of my house, the destruction and car- 
rying away of my wearing apparel — my being carried to a ta- 
vern, where I remained, scarcely able to move, for several 
weeks, have been stated — my desire was not to remain at a ta- 
vern, but to seek some private lodging ; but here the influence 
of ivlr. Ross again presented itself to prevent even t!iat escape 
from sorrov/ ; I wished to be secluded from the gaze oi the 
multitude, whose curiosity became daily more excitctl by the 
rumours of my real misfortunes, and the aggravation ot ca- 
lumny, that was put in circulation to diminish the force of 
public execration, and to serve as a palliation, and at lentith as 
an excuse for acts which if I had been the most infanx us of 
xny sex, no law, no charity, no luimanity, no manly feeling 
7/91114 sanction what had been done against me. 



21 

The ruin of my reputation was now the only resoui'ce leff, 
unless tne destruction of my life ; and the pains taken to ac- 
jcompHs: it were not without effect on my peace and security. 
I, however, fomid a refuge in the house of Mr. Gray, a hrick- 
layer, and here Mr. Steele Semple, one of Mr. Ross's friends, a 
man who had spent days and months at my house, who, in fact, 
married his wife out of my Jiouse, interfered to deprive m<^ 
even of this shelter ; but the magnanimity of Mr Gray re- 
sisted, and his indiG;nation was such, that, instead of the first 
scanty accommodation afforded me, he provided mc with a bet- 
ter and more comfortable lodf^iner. V/hilc here, I endeavored 
to coiltct such fr;igments of my household furniture as escaped 
the wreck of tlie od of August, but th.ey were retained also ; 
and even the sums due me I found efforts made to prevent my 
being paid, and. every artifice was employed to reduce me to 
such a state of need and despair as mi!\]it compel me to com- 
ply with a legal surrender of Grant's Hill to James Ross, who, 
-by this time, had it in h s actual possession. 

One Arnold, an itinerant shev/-man or buffoon, was em- 
ployed to ne?ociate with me — whether to aggravate my inju- 
ries by the despicable character employed to make proposi- 
tions, or that no decent man could be found to undertake it, un- 
der the odious circumstances of the case, I cannot say, but this 
Merry- Andrew came to me with a proposal from James Ross, 
that if I would sign aWay my property ot Grant's Hill, T should 
have all my household furniture and other eoods ! — Could any 
human being believe that such daring contempt of law, right, 
and justice, could be perpetrated or endured in any civilized 
society. ^ 

I v.-as told, that Messrs. I-ucas, Johnston, Semple, and Col- 
lins, the gentlemen whose nam.es were used in the paper pub- 
lished in my first letter of Saturday last, that they had some 
meetings, but at whose instigation I linow not ; certainly not 
at mine, nor with my consent; I acknowledged no power in 
them to raedd'e with n^.y property in any shape ; and I was in- 
formed that Lucas and Johnston did, at last, express some 
doubts, woiideving that Mr. Marie should not have sent letters 
of advice to th.em, as is usual ; and appeared to think it v.-'-v 
extraoixlinarv, that, after le.ivifig me a power of attoriiev dai-d 
the fuurt'.:ent!i of January, 1803, at Pittsburgh, he should, svid- 
denlv, by another paper of tlie ninth of May, IS- 3, at Bor- 
deaiix, all at once aliandon his wife, and supercede the powei' 
vesled in her, and give an avurority to sell her out of a hnise 
and home v/hich he !\ad bomul iiimself, by a previous d ed, 
never to claim or interfere with. 

Mr. Ross, however, was for selling the frag -"cuts o- mv 
goods :■! three months credit, and keeping the money, and I 



22 

aiu told Messrs. Scrapie and Collins perfectly agreed in liis 
opinion ; but Messrs. Lucas and Johnston resisted this ay-fi-ra- 
vation of wickedness. The goods that escaped or could be 
collected in a mutilated state were brought together, sets of 
pictures and large lustres were broken, and some torn from 
their frames ; bedsteads were deprived of their sacking, and 
the hinges and legs of mahogany tables broken ; curtains, on 
"which, during the domestic leisure of seventeen years of my 
life, I had bestowed all the pains of domestic industry and taste, 
for which the habits in which I had been reared in tliis city qua- 
lified me, and to which qualifications I am now, in my 46ti. year, 
driven to obtain my support ; out of all the wreck, and tne re- 
mains of the liquors which were in my cellars, I did not collect 
ijiore than brought '"00 dollars— wlien Ross heard that I had 
even recovered so much, he gnashed his teeth — and expressed 
an exulting thought, " this will last her about a year, and then 
she must give it up." 

Uncertain when my husband would return, or what I should 
do, and much weakened and unable to conclude on the course 
best to pursue ; I continued hovering round my child, and in 
the neighbourhood of that place, upon which I had wasted s© 
many years of my prime of life, and which I calculated upon 
as the refuge of my latter years, and some little portion for my 
child- 
It was about five. or six months after — I think it was in the 
month of April following, it was my hard fortune to fall under 
the hands of James Ross in person. It was in the evening, 
and my child and self, with a servant girl, were walking for re- 
creation and health ; ray child, as we passed our door (the rea- 
der must not suppose it to be my lodgings, it was the house out 
of which I was forced on the the 3d of August,) my child ex- 
claimed " mama ^ see r^iat beautiful fiafier theij have /nit on our 
entry" — I wished not to look that way, the scene that was pro- 
ductive to me of much felicity, was now surrounded with hor- 
ror I glanced my eye involuntarily in the direction which my 

child had directed it — behold the demon who had unseen in^- 
flicted so many wrongs, presented himself in person before me 

James 7?d.9.s, himself, sjjrung forth upon me, in his hand he 

bore an enormous whip of cowliide, such are used by waggon- 
ers, and with horrid imprecations fell upon rnc with this wea- 
pon ; he beat my cliild, and not contented with the lash which 
lie had broken upon me, he clubbed it, and witli the but of that 
whip, he reacted the scene of butchery, which the ruffians of 
the 3d of August had so cruelly begun ; feeble and weighty in 
my person, I made an effort to escape, but insensible and blinded 
by the blows and wounds that I had received on my face and 
eyes, I ran against a fence and' there fell — liow I recovered I 
know not — ■ 



23 

Mr. Henry Brack en ridge, son of the judge, Mr. MountaLii 
the attorney, Mr. Ayrcs the attorney, Mr. Samuel Smith, car- 
pei:ter, jukI Mr Osborne, saw the transactions, and saw Ross 
pursue me across the street. 

vVhen iTCovered, I waited on Dr. Richardson to dress tny 
wounds — my face at this moment exhibits the impression of 
James l\os&'s manliness, in a wound across my cheek inflicted 
by his savage iiands ; Dr. Richardson did with great tender- 
ness and humanity dress my wounda — the apparel I then wore, 
I rttain,and if there is to be had a lawyer who is not afraid to 
vindicate the injured against the oppressor — if there is a court 
in which justice is any more than a name, if there is a jury 
witi: honesty and a sense of justice, before whom justice can 
be had, I will there exhibit the apparel I wore, with the streams 
of biood drawn from my head, face and neck, bij the hands cf 
Janits lions. 

Dr. Richardson was also a magistrate, and I demanded pro- 
cess to be issued against James Ross. It was a hard demand 
upon that gentleman, and if justice is to be superceded by self 
preservation, I cannot surely blame Dr Richardson, whose 
practice as a physician, and whose standing as a magistrate, 
whose every hope in that part of the country, Ross might de- 
stroy, if Dr Kichardson did attempt to enforce legal process — 
he issued a summons, and trembled for the temerity he dis- 
played in such a bold act — James i^oss received the summons, 
but what was a summons to him, he set it at dehance — and I 
Was and am without redress — I thenceforth kept close within 
doors, and having disposed of every thing I could, made my 
way to this city in May 1804, where I have lived since, casually 
dependent on the goodness of respectable people who knew me 
in my early years ; and obtaining by needle work occasional 
means to render me as little dependent upon my friends as I 
possibly can. . 

I employed Messrs. Baldwin and Mountain before my de- 
parture, to sue Mr. Ross in my behalf — but the law is never 
hasty in the case of its ministers — I do not wish to encumber 
myself with any auxiliary oppression, than that I have felt- -I go 
straight forward to the great source and original fountain of my 
afflictions, James Ross. 

In July, 1806, my husband returned to me from France, and 
found me living here ; we resided at Kensington from that 
time to the 20th September, 1806. My history, since his dc- 
partiu'e, naturally became a constant topic of discourse, and 
constantly excited his rage ; he disclaimed all concern in the 
alledged pcwer of attoi-ney, and declared his determination to 
go to riltsburgh and bring Rosy to ,u;v ice, if justice was lo be 
had, and to prosecute liim for my v/rones. \\\x]\ this riechired 



purpose be set off for Pittsburgh, and most truly did I believe 
him, and fcit, at Ii;.<.st, the consolation that injuiy alv> sys de- 
rives from the hope of justice. 

He had gone bui a few weeks, wlien I lenrned that toils 
were laid for Mr, Marie, which threatened nie wiiii an 
aggravation of the past wrongs, rather than the redress 
I had looked to witli so much confidence. I was, in- 
deed, told that the very lawyers, Messrs. Baldwin and Moun- 
tain, wliom I had before engaged to prosecute Ross, were now 
engaged by him against me. '"'■ Jgaiiist ine !" I exclaimtd' 
Avhen I heard of it — " and what have I done to fear them." 
Alas ! I knew bui little of what laAvyers are capable, or what 
the law is capable of being made to do — but I determinerl ta 
meet it; my husband, old and feeble in mind indeed, but still 
miy iiusijand. Deficient of any means, I reported to Mr. Mor- 
rel, one of the guardians of the poor, and obtained a loan of 
40 dollars ; and on the 17tii of January, 1807, with my clukl, I 
set off for Pittsburgh, and took lodgings at the house of Mrs. 
Murphy ; Mr Marie had gone to the house of Felix Brunot^ 
who lived many years in this city, and now practices as a doc- 
tor on an island about five miies below Pittsburgh. I wrote to 
Mr. Marit, but received no written answers ; whether my let- 
ters were intercepted or not, I cannot swear, because I can only 
clrav. the inference from his not answering, and because Bru- 
not came to me with a proposition similar to that which 
was made me by the other respectable agent, Arnold, to 
iiign the deeds, make over Grant's Hill to Mr. Ross, and 
I should have a handsome reward, and hear no n^ore of 
what had passed. It may be easily guessed that this over- 
ture was not likely to prevail 

The law was now to assume a new and more horrible aspect. 

In a fev/ days there appeared an advertisement in 'the name 
of my husband, cautioning any person against trusting me 
on my husband's account. My means indeed were slender, 
and had it not been for the benevolence of Mrs. Murphy, 
I must have perished with my child— I remained four 
months constantly seeking to obtain an interview Avitii my 
husband without effect— and finding that my means of sub- 
sistence were exhausted, and hearing of some legal pro- 
ceeding, I employed young Wilkins to defend me, with this 
express direction, that as the jurors and all other persons in 
Allegheny, were in terror of Mr. Ross, that any suii in 
which I was concerned should be removed to the supreme 
court, and tried by a jury that was free from his influence, 
and the terror of it. Notwithstanding these directions, I am 
told that Mr. Wilkins, who is the brotlier ..f that fi ieiid who 
has undertaken to viiidicate Mr Ross's morality, fiid disre- 
gard my instructions, and it is said a trial of some kind that I 



25 

cannot comprehend nor can 1 find men, who are usually better 
informed than my sex, who comprehend how or by what 
means a divorce could be obtained. -—The allegations which it 
is reported, and I have no other than rumor for it, are in ex- 
treme contradiction with reason, with every idea of justice, 
with the tenderRe;;s which a pai-ent ewes to his child, even if 
he hates his wife ; with every notion that reflection or 
judgment can call forth. But it is said that Mr. Marie, 
from being a fond, tender and kind father, lias been trans- 
formed, in the 8 1st year of his age, into a selfish misanthrope, 
and has been persuaded at once to abandon wife and child and 
reputation — and for what adequate motive. He has cer- 
tainly either tacitly suffered or actually aided in this wrong ; 
but after marrying Mr. Marie in the 17th year of my age- 
after being his wife for 28 years, in sickness and in health, for 
better or worse— am I in my advanced state of life, to be thus 
made the sport of fortune, and tlie victim of accumulated 
wrong, merely because I had selected a beautiful spot of 
ground at Grant's Hiil, and converted it into a garden of de- 
light — am I to suffer al! this— is such cruelly to be tolerated iw 
a cbristiancountry— are the Iav;s then sucli cobwebs, as that all 
this may be done with inspunity— merely because James 
Ross ook a liking to the house and ground that are mine 
according to every lujman law. 

I have trespassed on the public patience — and if my habits 
have not enabled me to relate m.y unfortunate history Avith , 
brevity, the reader, will make indulgence for an afflicted 
woman. 

JANE MARIE, 



APPENDIX, A, 



FOR THE AURORA. 

Mr. Duane — You will herewith receive the statement oi 
Mr. Marie himself, detailincj the circiunstauces of the sale of 
his property at Grant's Hill, to Mr. Ross. In this there will 
be found nothing of" gros&?icss, cruelty or horror'" — as it is im- 
possible to anticipate the story of Mrs. Marie, to whicli you 
allude in very strong terms in your paper of this morning, it 
cannot now be guarded against. But from my knowledge of 
every fact connected with this business, I am entirely satisfied, 
nothing can be truly said, injurious to the reputation of Mr. 
Koss. As the transaction took place three hundred miles 
from this city, it is, in justice, to be regretted, that Mrs. Mariti's 
statement' had not been publishedoin time'to afford an oppor- 
tunity of procuring disinterested evidence oi the facts frora 
Pittsburg. When it appears, however, it will be repelled, by 
the best means in our power. Be pleased to publish this note, 
v/ith the statement. 

Sept. 22, 1808. 

In the fall of the year 1802, I was desirous to sell my rent estate, 
wlierc I then lived, on Grant's Hill, adjoining Pittsburg, and made pro- 
posals for that purpose to several gentlemen, who declined giving me 
the price I asked, I finally offered the pi'operty to Mr. Ross, who agreed 
to my terms, and paid me two thousand dollars in hand, and gave me 
his two bonds for eight hundred dollars, each payable in six and twelve 
months, being the residue of the purchase money, Mr. Ross never soli- 
cited the purchase from me, nor (lid I ever explain to him my intention 
to leave my family and go to France — I however went to France, and 
(having made Mr. Ross no regular conveyance of the land before I left 
America,) forwarded thence a letter of attorney to Thomas Collins, 
Steele Semple, John B. Lucas and John Johnston, autlioiising and re- 
quiring them to cany my contract with Mr. Ross into effect, to receive 
the balance of the purchase money, and to vest it for the support of 
my family. Tlie sale tc Mr. Ross was violently opposed by my then 
wife, she refused to sign a conveyance, or to give up possession of the 
property, (though I had made what was a very lil)erai allow aiice for her 
sopport,) and my attornies were obliged to resort to legal measures, be- 
fore Mr. Ross could obtain possession. On my return from France in 
August, 1806, the title of Mr, R.oss was still incomplete, as my wife had. 
not signed any deed, shortly after I obtained a divorce from her, and 
then perfected the title — upon which Mr. Ross immediately and without. 
a moiTienl's delay, honorably paid me the whole balance of tiie purclias'^ 
money and interest, and settled with mfe to my entire satisfaction. 1 
know that Mr. Ross had nu.ch trouble about" this business, but none. 
ever arose from me, I have been at all times fuily sa.iiified witli his 
conduct towards me, and am very soiry that any repojts injurious to 



28 

iiis character shouid ho.\c circulated with reference to this transaction, 
vhey are altogether iinftninded, and since I ain perfeclly satisiied, I do 
iiot kr.oAv what right others have to interfere in it ; I am now jjast 80 
years of age, and too far advanced in hfe to take any interest in partv 
politics, 1 have retired to spend my days with a worthy friend, and hope 
that my name will not again he used for any purposes of party—-! am 
sorry that it has been used to injure Mr Ross, but since it has been so, 
I find it my duty "tb tSms publicly declare that his conduct to me iu this 
business, has been perfectly satisfactory, fair and lionorable. 
Erunnot's Island, Alle^dieny couuty, Sept. 6th, 1808- 

JOHN MARIE 

Mr. Marie has lived with me for 2 years past, and as his friend ho 
lias been veiy ccnfidentjal to me in conversing on his concerns, I l)ave 
never heard him on any occasion e.\press tl;e least dissatisfaction at the 
conduct of IVIr. Toss, but at all times the contrary—as the friend of Mr 
Marie, and as he \»'as too far advanced in age to attend to his business, 
I assisted him to settle with Mr. Ross, and it was done to our entire and 
nii.tal satisfaction. 6lh Sept. 1808. 

FELIX BRUNOT. 



V/e have perused the foregoing statement of IMr. John Marie, and do 
certify, that belbre the sale made by him, to Mr. Ross, he oiTered the 
same to us at different times, but we declined purchasing, thinking the 
price asked v. as too great. 

Pittsburgh, 6th Sept. 1808, 

JOS. BARKER. 
GEORGE STEVENSON. 



B 

THE FACTS. 

Relating to the p:tr chase made bij Mr. Ross of John Marie, 
are these. 
When Mr. Ross purchaF.ed and paid two thousand dollars in hand, 
and fare his bonds for th.e remainder, he knew nothing of Marie's 
intention of going to France, or ( f any private agreement, (if any 
tlu're v/as) between him and his wife— the piice he gave was a Iiigh 
one, and more than ]Marie could get from any other ])er.son— alter 
Marie went to France, there w as no person to whom Mr. Ross could 
])ay the remainder of tlic ])urchase money, none being aulh<^.rised to 
make him a title. Soon after Marie arriveil in France he sent ever a 
]iOV.-er of auorney (the aullienlicity of which he now and aluayu has ac- 
knowledged) by virtue of which power the attornies of Marie took pos- 
session. In this transaction Mr. Ross had no ageucy nor was he 
present, it was carried into elh.-ct by the attornies of Marie, two of 
whom were Mr. Ross's most \io!ent political opponents. —When Marit: 
icturned to this country and perfected tlic title, Mr. Ross without hesi- 
1. it ion paid tlie remainder of the purcliasc money and interest. Mr. 
llobs iiaving purchased of Mario, who iiad a right to sell, and having 
ilic moment the title was i>erf(cted paid the wliwle purchase money 
..;h1 iiitere&t, he certainly h;id nothing to do with nor could lie lake any 
'part in the private agreements (if any there were) bet\\'een Marie and 

I'.is wife. 

In Pittsburc-h*tthcre the circimistances are well known, the story 
v.ill not onerare in the smallest ikgree to the prejudice of Mr. Ross ; 
ndecd hi's political, opponents theie have not attempted to pubhsh or 
n:ul:e a.y use of thi3 transaction against him. ^^^^^ ^yiLKINS 



i 



